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Well I have finally joined the CKTG forums! I appreciate the help and responses from the community and especially Jason who has helped answer most all of my questions since I started to freehand. At the moment I am contemplating a nubatama 320 or 400 grit as a replacement for the shapton 500 glass. From what I've read and asked, the scratch pattern coming off a nubatama 150 grit bamboo (which I am receiving tomorrow) is not as coarse as the grit might indicate, allowing me to skip a stone in the 500 grit range and go straight to the shapton glass 1k or what I'm considering to purchase later, a nubatama ume 1k speckled.

The latte is still a possible contender for me, but I'm not entirely convinced.

As of now, I am interested in buying a nubatama 1k speckled ume and just use the 150 bamboo straight to the 1k glass or the 1k speckled. Jason had tested something out for me earlier and said that the 1k nubatama stones had no trouble removing the scratches from the 150 grit when sharpening on s30v steel. Because the 1k shapton glass is relatively hard and is a fast cutter, can I expect the transition from the 150 bamboo to the 1k glass to work?

Thanks, Julian

Bladenoobie1

Post subject: Re: Is Latte 400 a good low grit stone for me?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:30 pm

Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:13 pmPosts: 8

EDIT:

I just remembered that I can test this for myself. I am sharpening my cousins PM2 in s30v steel so hopefully the transition from 150 bamboo - 1k glass works out.

Paradox

Post subject: Re: Is Latte 400 a good low grit stone for me?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:41 pm

Joined: Tue May 01, 2012 4:53 pmPosts: 333Location: Seattle, WA USA

I have a Bamboo 150 for both the EP and freehand and I am big fan of it. It does a great job but I could not disagree more that it's scratch pattern is fine enough to go straight to a 1k range stone. Personally I would not do that, for me it's mandatory to make a stop before the 1k level. I happen to like the 400 latte or 500 GS the 400 Bamboo is good too. There are a lot of stones in that range to choose from.

For me where the 150 really shines is in removing the scratch pattern of the Atoma 140 diamond plate and converting the pattern to that of a stone. It does a quick and thorough job of that getting the edge ready to go up through the stones.

Jason B.

Post subject: Re: Is Latte 400 a good low grit stone for me?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:05 pm

Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 6:29 pmPosts: 1702

I went from a 180 bamboo to a 1k bamboo gold on my spyderco military in S30V today without issue. The jump is very easy.

Bladenoobie1

Post subject: Re: Is Latte 400 a good low grit stone for me?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:11 pm

Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:13 pmPosts: 8

This is probably a noob question, but does a mud on the stone result in a smoother or coarser finish? If I were to use the nubatama 150 bamboo, would leaving the mud give me a finer finish or would constantly wetting and washing off the swarf/mud give me a smoother finish? Since it it my intention to go from 150 grit to 1k.

Jason B.

Post subject: Re: Is Latte 400 a good low grit stone for me?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:30 pm

Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 6:29 pmPosts: 1702

The mud give a hazy finish and reduces the size of the scratch pattern to some degree.

Bladenoobie1

Post subject: Re: Is Latte 400 a good low grit stone for me?

Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 5:13 pm

Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:13 pmPosts: 8

Received my 150 nubatama bamboo today and I'm extremely stoked. I will test it out when I have time on Friday. This is the coarsest stone I've ever purchased and I hear lots of good things about it.

forthosewhotoil76

Post subject: Re: Is Latte 400 a good low grit stone for me?

Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:46 am

Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:01 pmPosts: 258

Congrats on the bamboo 150, excellent stone. Learn to let that mud really build up on the surface and it will increase the effectiveness and cutting speed. I've worked with the 150 for about a year now and I think it's great for setting bevels quickly, but if you're looking to thin out alot of blades or remove a significant amount of steel, you'll need something lower in grit (I drop down to the low grit Ume stones for this)

I have a question though. Being that this is a coarse stone and an apparently fast cutter, if I make a mistake it would be rather evident. I'm still relatively new to freehand sharpening, but I have no problem with raising a burr and getting very sharp edge on a dull knife as long as I'm working on an already existing bevel. I've re-profiled 1-2 knives and unintentionally made the edge slightly thicker, but it was still sharp enough for my purposes.

My biggest challenge right now would be establishing an entirely new bevel that is thinner than what's currently on the knife. Can someone link me to a few videos that has good tips on reprofiling and establishing new bevels? Another challenge for me is clip point style blades. Drop points are relatively easy for me to follow and wharnclifs are easy too for obvious reasons, but inconsistencies always show up in clip point knives. Often on my return stroke, my angle is too low and as I reach the tip of the knife, I don't lift up the handle enough to allow for a full and even contact of the entire bevel. Reprofiling clip-points is my nightmare right now and I'm having significant trouble in doing that. Reprofiling in general is something that I can improve on and its something I want to master as if the edge isn't done right in the low grits, you often have trouble in the higher grits. I find that videos always help a ton, but any help will be well appreciated and accepted.

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